Adding Alternately

Many batter recipes call for the dry and wet ingredients to be added alternately into creamy butter and eggs. The term alternately means that the dry and wet ingredients are divided into 3 or 4 batches, and added into the batter one at a time, first the dry, then the wet, then the dry, and so on. This is an important method to insure the ingredients are well incorporated. It is also a smart way to avoid making a mess on your counter top, which usually happens when large amounts of anything are added into a recipe.